6B
Tuesday, January 17, 1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Red Lyon Tavern
A touch of Irish in downtown Lawrence
944 Mass. 832-8228
Russia calls for Chechen peace talks
Grozny deteriorates as prime minister pleas for a cease-fire
The Associated Press
GROZNY, Russia — With its offensive in Chechnya stalling, Russia called yesterday for immediate peace talks to end a secessionist rebellion it said threatened the nation's security and well-being.
"The future of Russia, our future, depends on resolving the crisis in Chechnya", Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said last night in a 15-minute address on national television.
He called for talks with all interested parties and forces and a simultaneous cease-fire.
Both sides have appealed for negotiations before, but Chermydyrn's speech, which did not impose the usual Russian conditions that the Chechens disarm, was one of Moscow's strongest statements yet.
The prime minister, saying he was speaking for President Boris Yeltsin, expressed "profound grief and condolences" to relatives of the
Thousands are believed to have been killed since Dec. 11, when Moscow sent troops into Chechnya, a mostly Muslim republic of 1.2 million people in southern Russia's Caucasus Mountains.
dead. He repeated Russia's insistence on new elections to replace Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev, who has led the independence drive.
Russia says fewer than 400 of its soldiers have been killed. But the ITAR-Tass news agency, quoting North Ossetian Medical Services, reported that the city mortuary in Mozdok, North Ossetia, had about 800 bodies of Russian soldiers.
Yeltsin earlier this month put Chernomyrdn in charge of resolving the Chechnya conflict, and the prime minister's TV appearance indicated he may be playing a larger role.
In the early weeks of the conflict, Chernymyrdin remained largely uninvolved, and therefore relatively unblemished while the military suffered humiliating defeats. Yeltsin has kept alow profile.
The Russian ground assault on Grozny has turned the city into a daily meat grinder that consumes bodies, buildings and weapons.
But yesterday morning, the routine resumed: Russian artillery picking up after 10 a.m. and regular air attacks before lunch. Chechen fighters change shifts twice a day, heading home for meals and rest.
Chernomyrdin defended the army in his address, saying, "The Russian soldier is doing his duty honorably."
New convoys of Russian infantry moved toward Grozny, and Russian helicopter gunships were operating outside the city in larger numbers than before.
The prime minister called for a moratorium on movement of troops and equipment, a halt of artillery and other heavy weaponry, the creation of safe zones for handing in weapons and guaranteed delivery of relief aid to civilians.
"At least we got to sleep last night," said an elderly woman on a street corner.
INTRAMURAL BASKETBALL
The Russian government warned of a possible epidemic caused by the many Russian corpse on the streets of Grozny, and senior officials flew to Chechnya yesterday to address the problem. But the temperature was below freezing, and Chechens said there was no immediate danger of disease.
There will be a MANDATORY MANAGERS MEETING
faltered again. Chechen fighters claimed to have pushed the Russians back and taken part of the railway station. Heavy machine-gun and rifle fire was heard in the direction of the station, but there was no way to confirm the claim.
Yesterday, the Russian campaign
The Chechens, many of them skilled fighters, are motivated by their fight for independence against their traditional enemy.
SUNDAY
For some civilians, a lull in shelling was reason to smile.
January 22 at 7:00 p.m. in 115 Robinson
Grozy's fall would allow Russia to install a provisional government but would not give it firm control over Chechnya. Chechen militants have vowed to wage guerrilla warfare from the southern mountains.
not sink Moscow's economic reforms. Parliament has discussed amending the 1995 budget to account for the war's financial cost, which Chernomyrdin put at about $1.3 billion.
Russia's army — one of the world's largest and most powerful — has failed to defeat a few hundred lightly armed Chechen rebels. Most of the Russian infantry is made up of young, poorly trained conscripts who lack motivation. Paratroopers and other elite troops also have been beaten back by the rebels.
He also insisted that the war would
ENTRY DEADLINE:
Divisions: Men's, Women's, Co-Rec, Law League; Greek, Open-Residence Hall
Leagues: Greek, Open, Residence
ENTRY DEADLINE:
WEDNESDAY, JAN 25 @ 4:00 P.M.
ENTRY FEE: $30/TEAM
sponsored by KU Recreation Services 208 Robinson 864-3546
Clinton backs program GOP calls a gimmick
The Associated Press
DENVER — President Clinton yesterday scoffed at Republican criticism of his national service program, a cornerstone initiative that he said "represents everything I want to do."
Clinton responded to criticism voiced by House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who called Clinton's program coerced volunteerism.
Commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday in an outdoor address, Clinton defended his plan to draw youths to community service with promises of educational grants and stipends, but he did not mention Gingrich by name.
The president marked King Day in Denver before heading to California, a state holding the key to his re-election prospects.
In a Newsweek magazine interview, Gingrich said he was unequivocally opposed to the national service program.
"It's coerced volunteerism," he said. "It's gimmickry."
The national service initiative is the umbrella organization for dozens of old and new public service programs pulled together by legislation passed with bipartisan support last year. The main program, AmeriCorps, offers college grants and stipends for 20,000 Americans mostly youths — working at government-approved community service programs. It will cost $500 million this year.
The White House was eager to trumpet Gingrich's criticism of a
program it views as beneficial to the middle class. Aides circulated previous comments by Gingrich, in which he applauded the spirit of the national service program but questioned its merits.
The quick response was the latest in a series of attempts by the White House to define the Clinton presidency by vilifying select aspects of the Republican agenda. The administration jeered Gingrich's talk about orphanages in a new welfare state and labeled GOP budget plans as deficit-growers.
Clinton tried to link the King commemoration with his "Middle Class Bill of Rights" and the national service program, maintaining that both programs exemplify how government can help citizens achieve the
American dream King envisioned.
Thousands of people heard Clinton make his case in a downtown park amphitheater. Organizers said Denver's King Day observance was the second-largest in the nation after Atlanta, where King made his home.
"His life should have special impact for every American, for he freed the rest of us of our hatred, our bigotry." Clinton said of King.
King, who was assassinated in Memphis in 1968, would have turned 66 on Sunday. Yesterday was a national holiday in his honor.
Local officials were guarding against any troubles. The 1991 King Day celebration in Denver ended in a riot as anti-Klan protesters squared off against police at a Ku Klux Klan rally.
Rent·A·Center
NO RENTAL PAYMENTS UNTIL FEBRUARY 4,1995
• FURNITURE
• ELECTRONICS
• COMPUTERS
SPECIAL RATES FOR STUDENTS 842-8890711W23RD IN THE MALLS
Beginning and Intermediate Knitting Classes Starting Soon!
Beginning Knitting: Learn by making a sweater! $20.00 for 8 weeks. 20% off class yarns.
Feb.2
Feb.13
(Thurs)
(Mon)
(Tues)
March 21
7-9 p.m.
7-9 p.m.
7-9 p.m.
Complete schedule of all classes available at Yarn Barn 842-4333 918 Mass. St.
YARNBARN
842-4333 • 918 Mass. St.
- home style Mexican food
Welcome Back Students!
Come in and enjoy...
- 11 Mexican beers!
- Margaritas
23rd and Louisiana 843-4044
in the Malls Shopping Center
Want to be published in the Kansan?
Whether you are interested in reporting, graphics or photography,the Kansan Correspondents Program is for you.
The program is open to freshmen sophomores, juniors or tranfer students who are journalism or nonjournalism majors.
Our first meeting will be at 4:30 Wednesday in 100 Stauffer-Flint Hall. We will be discussing the program and getting involved. We also will start planning for the first publication, "Guide to Going Out," which will appear in our new special section,
The Hill.
If You Are Interested, Contact Susan White at 864-4810.